New Daft Punk album gets first play in Aussie town of Wee Waa

The tiny Australian town of Wee Waa, better known for cotton than music, will be the launch site for Grammy-award winning French electro duo Daft Punk’s next album Random Access Memories, streaming live to the world next month.

In a clash of cultures, Daft Punk, known for using disguises, particularly ornate robot costumes, while performing, will screen their latest video at the 79th Wee Waa Regional Show, a fair with a long tradition of wood-chopping, pick-up trucks and cowboy hats and boots.

Daft Punk will not appear in person at the 17 May album launch, but 4,000 tickets were sold in 13 minutes yesterday for the event at Wee Waa, 350 miles north-west of Sydney.

Sony Music Australia said the event would be streamed live online to an international audience, but declined to give further details, including why Wee Waa, Aboriginal for “fire for roasting”, was chosen as the launch venue.